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Tag Archives: nokia

Nokia Ovi Suite has never been my favourite piece of software, but unfortunately I have to use it for my trusty mobile (Nokia 5230) which I still love after nearly 18 months of owning it.

If you’re running Ovi Suite on a netbook running a resolution of 1024×600, you may notice that Ovi Suite never opens properly. You have to manually tell it to maximize by doing ALT+SPACE and clicking maximize – otherwise you don’t see all options.

You can easily force Ovi Suite to maximize on launch if you’d prefer it to do so.

Simply find your Nokia Ovi Suite shortcut (probably on the Desktop or in the Start Menu), right-click it and click Properties. On the Shortcut tab, change the ‘Run:’ setting to Maximized (as shown above) and click OK. From now on, whenever you run Ovi Suite from that shortcut, it will automatically start maximized.

In the old versions of Nokia PC Suite, I used to love the fact that you could back up old text messages stored on your phone to a CSV file for future reference. As sad as that might be, it can be extremely useful.

However, in the new Ovi Suite, Nokia seemed to remove that functionality – which I happen to think is a real shame. They just seemed to totally remove the function – so it now seems impossible to back up texts to anything other than Nokia’s own (useless) backup file.

Luckily, I have an old version of Nokia PC Suite stored on my network server, which has helped me back up texts from my Nokia 5230. I’ve got a download link below – but please read the following before use:

Whilst I’ve taken every precaution to make sure nothing harmful is in the file (virus/malware scanned – 100% clean), I can accept no responsibility for damage to your computer or your mobile. You use old versions of software at your own risk.

This won’t work with newer phones (or at least I don’t think I will). I know this version supports phones such the Nokia 5230 and 5800, but I’m not sure if it supports phones newer than that. My guess is that it will work with any phone pre mid-2009.

If you find a phone that does work with the software, please post a comment for the benefit of others. Thanks 🙂

It is not recommended that you install this alongside any version of Ovi Suite. I would recommend installing this in a virtual machine, or on a clean(ish) copy of Windows.

I recently acquired my first ever smartphone (at last!). It’s the Nokia 5230 – a budget phone that packs a lot of punch.

For the best part of £80 from the Carphone Warehouse, you can get the phone brand new and unlocked. It includes HSDPA internet, GPS, Symbian S60 5th edition and a 2 megapixel camera. Personally, I think that’s a great line up for such a low priced phone.

The phone is very similar physically to the 5800. It’s a very similar size (but slightly thinner) and has the same sized screen. In fact, the 5230 only lacks wi-fi and a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash compared to the 5800. The 5230 is very nice to hold and fits comfortably in my hand.

On the left side of the phone, you’ll find slots for the MicroSD memory card (up to 16GB) and a SIM card. Whereas on the right of the phone, you’ll find a volume control, a lock slider (to lock the phone) and a single press camera button. On the front of the phone, you simply have the 3.2″ touchscreen and 3 hard buttons.

The interface of the phone is very easy to use. The Symbian S60 firmware means you get great ease of use together with brilliant functionality. As part of Nokia’s recent changes, you also get free worldwide Ovi Maps to go in harmony with the GPS receiver. Overall, I found Ovi Maps to be very impressive with the latest firmware to date. It is very fast and is relatively good at following your movements. The GPS receiver is one of the best built-in receivers I’ve used so far, being very good at getting strong signals even when in the car or on a bus.

The 2 megapixel camera is slightly lacking in today’s standards, but I feel that it still performs relatively well. I was very impressed with video camera, which is capable of shooting 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. The phone was also very good at getting decent, well focused shots in fast movement. I wouldn’t use it for professional photography, but for casual out-and-about usage it is perfect for the job. There’s no front facing camera, so no video calls, but who ever did video calls?

You also get a mono speaker which I thought was pretty good, but putting my own earphones into the 3.5mm jack sounded much better.

In terms of what you get in the box, I was slightly disappointed. In the UK, you’ll get the phone, together with a charger, manual and wrist strap. It also includes a very low budget stylus in the shape of a guitar pick, however I can’t really complain at the price of the phone. You don’t get a micro USB cable for the phone, so you have to rely on bluetooth for syncing with your computer. However, you can get these on eBay for about £3, so it may well be worth budgeting for.

Overall, I’m very happy with the phone. It packs a lot of punch for £80, and I’m happy to take it as an upgrade for my old 3120 classic.

The new Nokia N86 has started shipping worldwide, and it looks very exciting!

I think it looks pretty nice, although the angled button towards the bottom right of the top layer looks a little weird on the phone. The number keypad has good size, well spread out keys which should be easy to use, and the large screen should make it great to use.

In terms of technical specs, it has a 2.6″ OLED screen, a quad band antenna, bluetooth, 8MP camera with flash, HSPDA, Wi-Fi, Music Player and GPS – so it is well equiped for most phone users.

It isn’t cheap, with SIM free prices starting from £549.99, but you can get it FREE on a £30 contract with Vodafone.

I don’t think I’d pay the money for it as it is very expensive SIM free, but it is well equiped and is very practical.